Four men, four turntables: Two French EDM quartets in Utah soon hope to conquer us

By David Burger The Salt Lake Tribune

Published April 5, 2013 1:41 pm

Music • Dirtyphonics, C2C show electronic dance music has transcended continents.

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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In 2003, after France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq, Congress officially renamed french fries "freedom fries" in their Washington D.C. cafeterias

Fortunately, the members of Dirtyphonics and C2C  two French electronic dance music acts coming to Utah they don't hold it against us.

"Every country has buffoons," said the singular-named Charly of the Paris-based Dirtyphonics. "You can say that of Americans, but you can say that about French people, as well. We can all act stupid sometimes."

"We are always confronted with stereotypes about Americans or other people," members of C2C wrote in an email. "We personally have no problems with the American people and we work closely with U.S. artists."

Dirtyphonics, performs tonight in Salt Lake City, while C2C, headles at The Depot on April 16.

Both bands are examples of how quickly electronic dance music  better known as EDM  has spread around the globe in the last several years.

Dirtyphonics have seen the evolution in real-time since Charly, Thomas, Pho and Pitchin created the group in 2004 . Most of them spent their youth in metal bands, but soon gravitated toward dance music. Charly remembered an early tour to Australia where potential audiences weren't familiar with dubstep (a subgenre of EDM). Now, everyone is crazy about that sound.

"In America, everything is insanely big," Charly said. "Everything is happening so fast, and is now bigger in France."

The snowball hasn't leveled off as the genre spreads across the world. "Crowds in Eastern Europe are hungry for it," Charly said. "They want to get what the U.S. and Europe are getting."

The four-member band  long-time friends  released its first full-length album "Irreverence" on March 19. It fuses heavy bass music with the EDM subgenres of drum-and-bass, dubstep, and electro together.

They understand that live shows in America need more than just music. Americans expect and demand an all-encompassing experience.

"We think of Axl [Rose of Guns 'N' Roses] running across the stage," Charly said of their vision for their stage show. "We're onstage to share something with the crowd."

C2C • Showmanship also is important to C2C, which like Dirtyphonics also features four turntablists.

"[Visuals] really are a predominant part of the show and this is what allows us to distinguish it from other DJ's live," C2C said. " For this album we decided to create an innovative live performance where we manipulate the sound as well as the video, all the musical elements are represented by geometric shapes that change all over the show."

C2C members  which includes 20Syl, Greem, Atom and Pfel  grew up in Nantes, near Paris, where they were first exposed to EDM.

"There's a lot of students, so [there are] a lot of clubs, bars and parties," C2C said. "It is a lively city with great architectural and cultural dynamics, and for us a good place to find inspiration."

They found high school "boring," Which is why the "decided to focus on music."

They captured fame by winning the Disco Mix Club (DMC) World Team D.J. Championship four years in a row, from 2003 to 2006, and now have set their sights on conquering America.

While they've had success with their album in France because "it has a very special style with varied musical references," they don't know if they'll have the same success in America.

It "is still quite unknown to us and we can't know if our music corresponds to the current tastes of the country,"

However they are confident about " Tetra" their latest album, "because the majority of musical influences come from American music."

EDM  or electronic dance music  grew out of the American disco craze of the late 1970s. Instead of dying out, however, this genre went underground in places like Chicago, Miami and New York City.

In the new millennium, it regained a foothold with club artists such as The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Moby and Junior Vasquez.

In 2005, the Grammy Awards added a Best Electronic/Dance Album category  it was renamed in 2012 to Best Dance/Electronica Album. And in 2012, the American Music Awards added a Favorite Electronic Dance Music category.

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